Among the non-Italians arrested were several Bulgarian nationals based in Milan with whom the 'Ndrangheta allegedly was working as reported by Tom Kington for The Guardian: "'Bulgarians are better known as heroin smugglers, but they had been doing this for years,' said a Carabinieri police official on condition of anonymity."

The 'Ndrangheta has emerged as the world's most powerful crime group due to its obscene profits from the cocaine trade in Europe, and it further has become entrenched in Australia, Canada and the United States with surprisingly little push back from law enforcement in those countries.